Man Jailed For Dangerous Driving

16 months in prison for man who admitted dangerous driving.

A man who was responsible for ‘one of the worst cases of dangerous driving Derbyshire has ever seen’ has been jailed.

Mark Jones was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Friday, August 12 to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving.

He was also disqualified from driving for five years.

South Yorkshire Police contacted Derbyshire Constabulary at 12.45pm on March 18 to report that a Vauxhall Insignia had failed to stop when requested to by their officers and was now heading down the M1 into Derbyshire.

Officers pursued him  along the M1, where he drove on the hard shoulder, narrowly missing several cars and lorries. At one point, he drove the wrong way down the carriageway. He then drove along the A38 to Ripley, weaving between traffic, before officers detained him on the A38, prior to junction 28 of the M1.

Before he was apprehended at 1.19pm, Jones collided with several cars, rammed police vehicles and at times, drove at 120mph.

Derbyshire police have today released footage from the North Midland Helicopter Support Unit, which filmed the pursuit from the air.

Officer in the case PC Mark Hallam, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “This was probably one of the worst cases of dangerous driving Derbyshire has ever seen. He rammed several police cars, did a U-turn on the motorway and drove at ridiculous speeds on the hard shoulder.

“It was a joint effort to stop him in a pursuit that lasted more than 40 minutes.”

The court imposed no separate penalty on Jones (28), of Shapinsay Drive, Rednal, for using a vehicle without insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with his licence.